Dear onthegomom,

I wonder if he would like one we just finished around here: Paul Glennon's "Bookweird" (Doubleday Canada 2008, 250 pp). The hero is Norman, an 11 year-old boy, who is obsessed with the Lochwarren book series (a quasi-medieval world of stoats and hares, battling wolves and foxes--somewhat reminiscent of what I think Redwall is like--I haven't read any of those yet).

He nibbles on a page of the latest Lochwarren book, and is transported into it, where all the animals believe him to be a seer, since he is so well-informed about their history! He later falls into his little sister's horse book series, his mum's hard-boiled police procedural, and his dad's Anglo-Saxon epic, before returning to Lochwarren. He interacts with the characters in all of the books, and worries that he is changing the course of the stories.

The premise was to me really very interesting, and the boys each liked the book very much, and are looking forward to the next one (Bookweirder, 2010, 246 pp); the third one is supposed to come out later this year (no word on a title yet, but I'm betting Bookweirdest, aren't you?) I didn't like some aspects of the story (stereotypical view of family life--tween with attitude, somewhat adversarial relationship with the parents at first, constant bickering with annoying younger sibling, etc.), but overall, it was quite a fun read for everyone. There are an irritating number of typos--hope the editing is better in the next ones.

peace
minnie